Hong Kong were firmly beaten by Iran on Thursday in their first match of the second phase of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

The SAR's men went down 4-0, with Sardar Azmoun's early double setting Iran on the way to a comfortable victory. Goals from Mehdi Taremi and Ramin Rezaeian late in the second half completed the scoring.

Iran are joined on three points at the top of Group E by Uzbekistan, who beat Turkmenistan 3-1. Hong Kong next take on Turkmenistan on Tuesday.

In Group C, China kicked off their campaign with victory against Thailand in Bangkok, with Wang Shangyuan hitting the decider 16 minutes from time.

They're joined at the top by South Korea, who scored four times in the second half to hand Singapore a 5-0 defeat at Seoul World Cup Stadium.

Japan and Australia also notched up comfortable wins on a night of few surprises and a flurry of goals.

Japan's Ayase Ueda scored a hat-trick as a largely second-string side defeated Myanmar 5-0 after Hajime Moriyasu chose to leave many of his leading performers on the bench ahead of their more exacting Group B clash with Syria in Jeddah on Tuesday.

Australia were also untroubled as they completed a 7-0 demolition of Bangladesh in Group I with Jamie Maclaren stepping off the bench to score a second half hat-trick.

The win puts the Australians top of the early standings after Lebanon and Palestine shared a 0-0 draw in Sharjah. (Reuters)